


The Calling

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Denial of Feelings, Groundhog Day, Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Rough week?" Ren asked, attempting to inject humour.Akechi snorted. "Roughday."•••Akechi Goro is stuck in a time loop of the worst day of his life. Amamiya Ren is not.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Kudos: 13





	The Calling

**Author's Note:**

> A cheeky little spin on the time loop au

He had an approximate of thirty minutes to burn.

All the months of waiting, of carefully planning everything to fall into place just so - it had all amassed to this critical day. If he slipped up once during the takedown of Shido's Palace, then all of this work would have been for nothing. It was daunting to say the least, but Ren hadn't got this far by hastily retracting his plans.

Twenty-seven minutes left now. The group had unanimously agreed to meet at the Palace in a handful of hours from now, but Ren still needed to tie up some loose ends, namely purchasing provisions from the clinic. Sojiro had decided to stay with Futaba for the majority of the day, leaving Ren to wander the cafe freely.

Presently, he was arranging coffee beans which were destined to later be curated into drinks. Morgana had volunteered -  _ chivalrous _ as always - to help upgrade Ann's armour in preparation of the battle to come, leaving him completely isolated. He hadn't been on his own for quite some time. It was refreshing, but Ren quickly ruined any of the potential fun by hypothesizing just how much would go wrong, and what his potential failure would mean for the rest of the team.

He did so enjoy this productive thinking time.

Nineteen minutes.

If Ren was lucky, he would perhaps manage to envision five gruesome death scenarios, and a handful of arrests scattered in just for the variety. He began to work the coffee machine, wincing at the near deafening crunch noises - Sojiro really needed to buy a new one, but in his words, if it worked, there was no need to replace it.

Ren had long since lost that argument, so there was no point in engaging in such thoughts. He prepared the thermos flasks, taking care not to scold his hands with the boiling water. It was going to taste mediocre, given the fact that by the time they would be consumed, the coffee would have cooled. He could almost  _ feel  _ Sojiro's visceral dismay. 

With his tasks done and five minutes to pass before the clinic doors opened, he leaned on the counter and resumed his highly productive strain of thoughts - namely, the imminent doom that would befall them should Ren make a mess of things.

There was a soft, almost imperceptible sigh. "Imagining your own tragic death again?"

Ren startled, spinning sharply to find the intruder. The intruder, who was leaning against the entrance to the Leblanc with an arched eyebrow, crossing his arms, acting as though he was allowed to just stand there despite literally shooting him in the face a week prior.

_ Akechi. _

It felt as though he had been winded, with the air forcefully punched out of his chest. The details of  _ how _ he knew that Ren was still alive were unimportant. He took a half step back on instinct, quickly grabbed the nearest potential weapon - a rolled up magazine _ (?) _ \- and brandished it in front of him.

_ How _ had he not  _ noticed-? _

It was the goddamn coffee machine. Ren was going to burn it if he somehow made it out of this alive. Akechi had come into the Leblanc whilst he was making coffee, and Ren hadn't even  _ suspected  _ someone else was there. Akechi sighed, sounding vaguely bored, and lifted his hands in a mocking show of placation. "Please, Amamiya. I'm tired of all this hostility."

Hostility that Akechi had instigated entirely on his own, of course. Though, there were two things that were entirely out of the ordinary - Akechi never said please unless he meant it, and Akechi certainly never admitted weakness, even if it was something as mundane as being tired. It was the oddness of his statement, coupled with the fact that Akechi truly did look exhausted, that made Ren cautiously relax his guard.

If Akechi genuinely wanted to kill him, he could have walked into the Leblanc and shot him without exchanging a word and Ren wouldn’t have seen it coming. There was nothing he would be able to do in order to prevent it - even now, with more awareness and time, he didn't have an advantage. 

Really, what the everloving fuck was Ren meant to do with a rolled up magazine to defend himself against any potential weapons? Cautiously, he placed the magazine back down, and it unfurled, revealing the cheerful title of ' _ Top 10 Positions to Spice up the Bedroom! _ '

_ Goddamn _ it, Futaba.

Akechi took this as the peace gesture Ren had intended it to be, and he entered the coffee shop, shoulders slouched and relaxed. Then, as he had done many times before, he took a place at the counter, folding his hands neatly and fixing him a sharp, inscrutable look.

Ren fleetingly wondered if the expression was to do with the magazine. Futaba truly did have an awful sense of comedic timing, even when not explicitly present. He cleared his throat, resisted the urge to take a few more steps back or draw more attention to the magazine by flipping it over to the back cover. "Good morning."

For a second and for some unknown reason, Akechi looked absurdly optimistic, before his expression was reset to something bored and impassive. "Good morning. You seem surprisingly calm, despite the fact that I could easily murder you and get away with it."

At that moment, Ren was certain that if he were to die today, it would not be at the hands of Akechi Goro. Disregarding the drawled, mocking tone, he could pick up something small but  _ relieved  _ at the fact that Ren didn't see him as an immediate threat to his life. He gave a modest shrug. "Well. It was either this or screaming.”

Akechi glanced at the unbearably mortifying magazine that had been used as an impromptu baton just moments ago. "I come unarmed."

Ren doubted the validity of this statement. Granted, Akechi had no obvious homicidal intent, but to show up in what was essentially enemy territory unarmed was a risk that Akechi was too smart to take. Though, accusing him of lying would do nothing to help any of the potential animosity between them, and he offered, "House blend?"

Akechi stared at him silently for a long, long time.

Ren leaned back on his heels, a hand awkwardly rising to rest on the back of his neck. "If you don't want coffee-"

"No! No, I want coffee, I just..." Akechi faltered, frustrated. Ren couldn't tell if the irritation was directed at him or at the current situation, so he chose to be naive and hope it was the latter. After the minor outburst, a silence settled between them. Then, suddenly, Akechi continued, "I'm just remembering the first time I saw that magazine. It did surprise me, if you were wondering."

"It isn't mine." Ren immediately replied before cringing. There was no way to explain the existence of the publication without looking guilty and defensive.

Surprisingly, Akechi agreed. "It's Futaba's."

Ren wasn't entirely sure how Akechi made that connection so fast, but he truly didn't want to think about the magazine for longer than he needed to, lest he succumb to mortification. He started to prep the house blend as Akechi silently watched him. It was oddly reminiscent of  _ before _ .

Though,  _ before  _ had never involved an Akechi looking mildly dejected, as though he was just going through the motions of the day and distinctively lacking the usual focussed, resolute set to his demeanour. It was disconcerting, to say the least, and something he knew that if he questioned Akechi on it, the other would instantly glare and become defensive.

"Rough week?" Ren asked, attempting to inject humour.

Akechi snorted. "Rough  _ day _ ."

It was still early morning, so either something spectacular had happened within eight hours or Ren had completely missed the meaning. With Akechi, he could never truly be certain. Akechi took a sip of coffee, then gave a slight, content hum. Ren, realising that he was staring, quickly busied himself by cleaning the counter.

"I'll explain when everyone's here." He added, almost as an afterthought to his previous statement. Ren nodded, content to go at the other’s pace. He wasn’t entirely sure what had brought Akechi here; if not to kill him, or blackmail him, or to prove some point, then what? Akechi glanced at the clock with a thoughtful expression. "She's far later than usual.”

Ren blinked. "Who?”

Before Akechi could answer - or perhaps in form of answering - Futaba burst through the door with enough force to make the glass panes rattle in their fixtures. Ren jolted upright, alarmed, though Akechi was somehow unbothered, continuing to take a casual sip of his coffee. Futaba stormed up to Akechi, eyes flashing as she hissed, “If you’ve hurt him, I'll  _ kill you _ ."

It was the sort of viciousness that Ren had never thought Futaba was capable of exhibiting. Somehow, Akechi didn’t seem threatened - hell,  _ Ren  _ felt threatened despite not being on the receiving end of such a look. Akechi smiled with an obvious false sincerity. "I've tried that already. It won't change anything."

Futaba narrowed her eyes, fists clenching and shoulders hunching up. It was clear that she was gearing up for a fight - one that she would lose, no matter the fierceness of her intent; Akechi was simply stronger than the both of them. With this in mind, and a reluctance to witness a fight, Ren tried to calm things with an uninspired, "Wait, we can talk this out."

“We can.” Akechi drawled, assured, and not helping his case. "Remember this still winter."

At this, a deafening silence fell between them. 

“It’s summer.” Ren pointed out, confused.

Two pairs of eyes glared at him. It became clear that these words obviously had some significance to Futaba, as she became very, very still. "How… nevermind, it’s obvious how.” Then, “Ren, make some tea, please.” A sigh. “This is giving me a headache.  _ You’re  _ giving me a headache.”

Akechi seemed particularly unrepentant at the accusation, and was seemingly prepared to comment on this. Ren cut the potential argument with a sharper than necessary " _ alright _ ,” and began to sort out two cups of tea, with Akechi turning down a refill on the house blend. Futaba sat on one of the chairs, some distance between her and Akechi. She formed a bridge to rest her by interlacing her fingers.

"He isn't a threat.” Futaba said, then grinned, amused by something. “If he was, it wouldn’t matter for long."

There was a long pause, in which Ren felt distinctively and frustratingly out of the loop. Futaba, out of some misguided attempt to stylishly punctuate her statement, took a sip of the tea in front of her before wincing at the heat of the water. She shot an accusing glower at Akechi. “You knew that was about to happen, didn’t you?”

“Think of it as cosmic karma.” Akechi smirked.

Ren gawked, before deciding that he might as well learn what was going on so they could form a plan. "Ok, as willing as I am to deal with your weirdness-"

"Hey!" Futaba objected.

Ren finished. "-I would like to know what's going on."

Another long, awkward pause. Futaba seemed to be in deep thought, face scrunching up in consideration, but Akechi merely appeared to be uninterested. He examined the coffee cup in front of him, idly tipping it from side to side. Then, lazily dragging out each word, he said, "I’ve been stuck in a time loop for the past month or so.”


End file.
